GPMS Announces STC Progress on Multiple Platforms

GPMS announced today at HeliExpo 2023 that the FAA has granted a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for Foresight MX, the industry’s leading health and usage monitoring system (HUMS) on the Airbus AS350 B2 platform. Additionally, GPMS announced it has contracted with a HEMS operator to certify Foresight MX on the H145, and is working with Metro Aviation for certification on the EC145 platform.

Since the initial certification on the Bell 407GX series in 2019, GPMS has received STCs on various models, including the Bell 407 Analog, Bell 429, Bell 212, Bell 412 series, MD 530F, Airbus H125/AS350 B3, Mi-8/17/171 and the UH-60A.  GPMS teamed with Pathfinder Aviation, a utility operator in Alaska, to complete the AS350 B2 certification and to bring predictive HUMS to the nearly 1200 B2s flying today. 

Byus continues, “Many of our customers, like Pathfinder Aviation, utilize multiple models from multiple helicopter OEMs.  This historically has prevented them from seeing a one-stop, holistic view of the health of their entire fleet.  With our solution, our targeted Airbus certification expansion, and our collaboration with various OEMs, more operators are benefiting from having the power of Foresight.  Using it anywhere, any time, and on any web-enabled device.” 

According to Todd Powers, GPMS’s Vice President of Sales, the demand for HUMS is no longer a surprise.  “In the last year, we’ve more than doubled our Foresight installations and our backlog, and our CEO & cofounder, Dr. Eric Bechhoefer, has been awarded the HAI Salute to Excellence Award for Safety for his outstanding contributions to the promotion of rotorcraft safety and safety awareness.  We’ve moved from showing folks the benefits HUMS can bring to them, to fulfilling orders and assisting customers with their installations as quickly as possible.” 

Why it’s important: Foresight is similar to other commercial aviation prognostic and health monitoring dashboards, however the tool is uniquely optimized for use in helicopters. This type of technology could be applicable to aerial mobility aircraft in the future and would help predict maintenance activities before they’re required, increasing utilization and decreasing unscheduled maintenance downtime. GPMS is gaining valuable experience in the helicopter industry prior to aerial mobility aircraft operating at frequencies that will benefit from such integrations, however in the coming years expect a larger focus on analytics and eVTOL management dashboards, whether they’re from external horizontally integrated models or vertically integrated OEM’s.